Monitoring for Management Actions
is now available electronically. This 1987 publication is the
first report from Maryland's Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program and
includes information on the basic design and objectives of the Program.

2000 Maryland Section 305(b) report,
This report provides summary information about water quality
conditions Statewide as well as specific water quality information in
each of the State's 138 watershed segments. Required by Section 305(b)
of the federal Clean Water Act, this biennial report also provides a
summary of the Maryland's water pollution control programs, watershed
management efforts and water monitoring programs. This is the first
Maryland 305(b) report to utilize interim biological criteria to
assess how well the State's non-tidal waters support aquatic life in
terms of fish and benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Application
of biological criteria in this report resulted in a significant
increase in the number of miles of non-tidal waters that do not fully
support a balanced aquatic community (37.2 percent) compared with
results in the 1998 305(b) report which did not utilize biological
criteria (5.6 percent). The 2000 Maryland 305(b) report is
available for download here as an Adobe Acrobat (.pdf file, 3.28 MB).
If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can get a free
copy at http://www.adobe.com.

Maryland
Water Monitoring Strategy,The US Environmental Protection
Agency requires that each State periodically update their water
monitoring plans. The December 2000 version of Maryland's water
monitoring strategy is available online and can be downloaded and read
as an Adobe Acrobat file (http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/mwmc/MDStrategyA.html).
Although this report is narrowly focused on State agency monitoring
plans, Maryland agencies and their staff have a long history of working
on water monitoring efforts with other groups including federal
agencies, local governments, regional agencies, non-governmental
organizations, businesses, and citizens. This report was developed to
meet EPA's needs, but it also will serve as a framework for developing a
more comprehensive Statewide monitoring strategy that will incorporate
other water monitoring activities and provide a basis for more
cooperation and coordination among these groups. The Maryland Water
Monitoring Council (http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/mwmc/)
will play a significant role in helping to develop this comprehensive
strategy in the coming year.

A Sea Level Rise Response
Strategy For the State of Maryland,Sea level rise rates along Marylandís coastline are nearly
twice those of the global average. Sea level has risen approximately one
foot in the last century and is expected to rise another 2 - 3 feet by
the year 2100. Sea level rise impacts coastal areas by exacerbating
coastal flooding, influencing shoreline erosion, and submerging tidal
wetlands and other low-lying lands. Such impacts pose a significant
threat to the steep cliffs, wetlands and marshes, tidal estuaries, and
sandy beaches, and barrier islands that comprise Marylandís coastal
environment. Recognizing the need to begin planning for sea level rise,
a NOAA Coastal Management Fellow with Marylandís Coastal Zone
Management Program (CZMP) developed a Sea Level Rise Response
Strategy for the State of Maryland. The strategy sets forth the
policy and implementation framework for reducing
the State's overall vulnerability to sea level rise in the
coming years.

Lower Eastern Shore
Report, This report represents a regional effort to look in
detail at the water quality and living resource issues in Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore,
and the programs available to deal with them.

TheOn-Site Sewage
Disposal System, (OSDS), Task Force put a wrap on their intensive
six month work with the submission of this report to the Bay Cabinet on September 10,
1999. Tom Miller, Upper Potomac Trib Team Chair, who Chaired the OSDS Task Force, briefed
Marylands Bay Cabinet on the recommendations included in the report. The OSDS Task
Force focused on the policy changes that must occur in order to institutionalize nutrient
reducing non-traditional OSDS technologies while not encouraging unwanted development. The
66 page report includes recommendations for encouraging non-traditional or alternative
nutrient reducing systems, designating areas of special concerns, establishing management
districts, developing verification processes, supporting education needs, and utilizing
shared and community systems.

Atmospheric
Deposition in Maryland.Atmospheric
deposition is an important environmental concern in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay
region. Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) conducts ongoing efforts to
evaluate the sources of atmospheric deposition and its impacts to Marylands natural
resources. Through the Power Plant Research Program, DNR has developed this fact sheet to
provide information on the environmental effects of atmospheric deposition and to discuss
recent status and trends.

Chester River
Basin Report.This report describes
existing aquatic resource conditions in first, second and third order non-tidal streams in
the Chester River basin in Maryland. The report also begins to assess water quality and
habitat problems in the basin, as well as areas of high ecological value.